


Opera

by Janara



Series: BT Tower Telephone Group E [4]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M, Operas, Post-Canon, Short & Sweet, let's try to act cultured
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26650696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janara/pseuds/Janara
Summary: Date nights can get interesting if you have spent centuries inspiring humans.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: BT Tower Telephone Group E [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937872
Comments: 7
Kudos: 25





	Opera

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Acting Christmas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26649031) by [EdnaV](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdnaV/pseuds/EdnaV). 



> Written for the BT Tower Telephone Event, which was so much fun to participate in!  
> Originally posted under the title 'Una notte particolare'.
> 
> Thanks so much to [Madame Flutterby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madame_Flutterby) for looking through the spelling.  
> Other than that, this is not beta-ed. Like Crowley we very much fall.
> 
> Part of the 'Between the Lines' works.

"Really, angel. Of all the dreadful things you could drag me to." Crowley heaved an exorbitant sigh.

"What? I thought you liked the funny ones?"

"There's funny and then there's _that_." The demon sneered at the stage on which the convoluted plot of Le nozze di Figaro did its very best to unfurl.  
It struggled.  
The performers, while quite good at singing, sadly lacked the acting ability to carry the story with any sort of panache. 

Aziraphale did his best not to cringe with vicarious embarrassment and decided to focus on the lovely music and gorgeous costumes instead. 

"Should've never let it slip that I like Mozart," came the disgruntled mutter beside him.

His lips twitched. He couldn't help it. Crowley was so gloriously grumpy tonight. The sort of grumpy he liked to put on whenever he set out to be making a nuisance of himself.  
Aziraphale was rather fond of it. It was part of the demon's charm, although he would never let him know. 

"Well, seeing that you like Mozart and prefer funny ones –"

"I said I prefer Billy's funny ones."

Aziraphale rolled his eyes at the diminutive but leaned back into his cosy balcony seat and turned to look at the demon. A much nicer sight than the spectacle on the stage - and he could still hear the music after all.

"So, which of Mozart's dramas would you pick then?"

" _Not_ the Schuldigkeit Des ersten und fürnehmsten Gebotes. If you ever dare taking me to that one, I _will_ toss you over the balustrade."

Crowley glared and Aziraphale suppressed a smile while jotting down a mental note to see if the Schuldigkeit was still performed somewhere. The demon's sulk would be delightfully spectacular. 

"What then?" He said instead, his voice as angelic as ever.

"Always was partial to Apollo et Hyacinthus, actually." Crowley muttered. "Even though they should have kept to the original." 

Aziraphale hummed, thoughtful for a moment.  
"Yes. Yes, I can see that." He noticed that his companion squirmed a bit and raised an eyebrow. Crowley, very intently and very pointedly, directed his attention back to the stage.

"Out with it, my dear."

"Nyeah… No clue what you're on about."

"Another one you like."

Crowley huffed another sigh and sunk lower into his seat, mumbling something.

"What was that?"

"Idomeneo…"

"Oh my – " Aziraphale could not keep his eyebrows from rising. He gazed at the demon who in return kept his eyes fixed on the stage.

"How very – "

"Don't!" Crowley growled.

"– sentimental."

That earned him a magnificent snort.

"Always liked this bit here."

"What?" Aziraphale blinked, momentarily disoriented.

Crowley nodded at the stage where Cherubino was pleading with Susanna.  
"Turned out rather well, that. Really shows up the hypocrisy of the ruling class."

Aziraphale's eyes widened as he stared at the demon. There was that little, oh so familiar quirk in the corner of the frankly indecent mouth.

"You didn't," he gasped. 

The quirk quivered.

"Oh, you're having me on!" He was still staring, trying to read the other's face in the dim light.

"Look at you, picking up colloquialisms. I'm proud of you, angel."

Aziraphale could _feel_ the amusement and self-satisfaction radiating from the demon.

"You? Having a hand in – all of this?" He waved his own hand at the stage.

"Well, not _this_ , obviously. This production is vile. Actually," the demon tilted his head, "if still on payroll, I'd definitely claim this as one of mine. Offence against good taste and all that."

"Crowley!" Aziraphale pressed on.

"What?" Crowley finally turned his head to look at him. "You can whisper sweet nothings into dear Georgette's tender ears, but I can't have a chat or two with good old Amadeus?"

"I can't believe you." Aziraphale glanced back at the stage where Cherubino had just been discovered by the Count. "Well – maybe I can."  
Out of the corner of his eye he caught Crowley's cringe. 

"Yeah, not my best work. This scene was supposed to show how to turn a tricky situation into an advantage."

Aziraphale raised an eyebrow at the stage. "That got rather lost in translation, I'm afraid."

"It did in this production," Crowley hissed.

They blinked simultaneously as Cherubino somehow managed to get tangled up in Susanna's dress - the one she was wearing - and both performers toppled over.

"I'm starting to see your signature, my dear."

"Shaddup."

They were staring at the stage in silence for a while.

"At least the music is very nice?" Aziraphale offered.

"Yeah, they haven't mucked that up. Yet."

They both heaved a sigh as the curtain closed on the first act. Aziraphale cleared his throat.

"Maybe – I mean – If you don't mind…"

"Please say you've got enough of this and we can get out of here."

"Kind of." Aziraphale admitted.

"Splendid!" Crowley jumped up and held out a hand for him.  
Aziraphale gladly took it and was immediately drawn in, relishing the low thrum and buoyant energy that emerged from the demon. It still felt new somehow, this freedom of being together in whatever way they pleased, but at the same time there was that lovely, warm familiarity he could finally allow himself to revel in.

"I was thinking…" Crowley murmured as he wound his arms around his waist. 

"Yes?"

"About plans for tomorrow evening…"

"Mmh?" Aziraphale couldn't keep himself from smiling. It was a problem that got more and more persistent around the demon.

"There is this late-night reading of Heyer…"

Aziraphale froze.

"Venetia, I believe."

Aziraphale felt an uncomfortable heat spreading across his cheeks.  
"Better not."

The grin Crowley gave him was beyond wicked. He would have considered it delicious had it been under any other circumstances.

"Oh, most definitely, angel. You're so on."


End file.
